


Flashing Ahead

by SnowyNibelheim (Lyhtma)



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:45:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5248718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyhtma/pseuds/SnowyNibelheim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to an accident involving Materia and Zack Fair; Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack find themselves several years in the future. After meeting up with an old friend, they find themselves in the WRO's care, trying to find a way home as this timeline's Cloud tells them of the horrifying future that's yet to come.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Thought it was about time I got one of these, so... Yep.
> 
> Cross posted on my Tumblr and Fanfiction.net account (got one of those too!). Both under the same name.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the games associated with that series.

It was a quiet evening that day, the threesome were waiting for their youngest lovers to come home and for dinner to be ready. They were in Sephiroth’s apartment. Genesis lounging in Sephiroth’s favorite armchair, his red hair was glinting in the rooms light and LOVELESS in his gloved hands; as was the norm.

The brunette, Angeal, was stationed in the kitchen. A smile across his lips as he noticed Sephiroth standing in the doorway, cat-like eyes following Angeal’s every movement.

“Would you like to help?” the burly man asked after a while. A low chuckle rumbled from his chest when Sephiroth nodded _almost_ eagerly. “Tie your hair back then.”

As Sephiroth and Angeal cooked in the kitchen, out in the living room Genesis jerked in surprise as the front door flew open and banged against the wall. Looking up from LOVELESS, Genesis scowled at the dark-haired teen in the doorway. “Handle the door with care, Zackary,” he scolded. “It may be reinforced, but it can and will break,” he warned.

“How do you know that?” Zack asked playfully, making sure to carefully shut the door behind him and a grin spread across his face. Kicking off his boots he practically bounced from the entryway and over to the large couch. Amethyst colored eyes never looked away from Genesis as he did this, ages of practice and failures left him with the knowledge of where the couch was exactly and how many bounced it would take to get to it from the entryway.

A grin slowly crossed Genesis’ face as he closed LOVELESS with a quiet snap. “Sephiroth once decided to throw something close to a temper tantrum and slammed that very door shut with enough force that it flew off the hinges. It nearly bent in half too, if I remember correctly.”

“Seriously? Seph did?” Zack asked in disbelief, eyes wide as he plopped down onto the end of the couch nearest to the armchair.

Genesis nodded sagely. “Seriously. He was in his teenage years,” he added. “It was a pretty big tantrum. That door wasn’t the only thing injured during it.” Genesis chuckled. “President Shinra wasn’t very pleased when half of his forces were put in the infirmary for a few weeks.”

“I thought we promised never to speak of that incident again, Genesis,” Sephiroth stated from the doorway between the kitchen and front room. His calf-length hair was pulled back into a high pony-tail as Angeal had requested. Sephiroth was leaning against the doorframe, a silver brow raised as he looked at the redhead.

“You and Angeal promised, dearest. I, on the other hand, never did,” Genesis reminded him with a smirk and Sephiroth frowned.

Sensing an oncoming argument, Zack quickly interjected. “Sephy’s temper tantrums aside, I need help working out a few issues I’m having with my new Materia. Will you help, Genesis?” he asked, turning his ‘puppy-dog eyes’ on Genesis while Sephiroth vanished back into the kitchen.

Although Genesis and Sephiroth were the only ones out of the fivesome to be able to resist Zack’s ‘puppy-dog eyes’, Genesis caved. It wasn’t like he was about to deny help when it came to his lovers, or Materia. The Commander knew the dangers that came with malfunctioning Materia, and with those who didn’t know how to use the magic properly. It never ended prettily.

“What are you having issues with, darling?” he asked. Sitting up properly he sat LOVELESS aside onto one of the side tables before leaning forward and towards his dark-haired lover.

Zack scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m having issues with Stop and Warp.”

“Show them to me,” Genesis partly-requested, partly-demanded. Pulling the Materia from his pocket, Zack handed them over. The redhead appraised them before handing the marble-sized objects back to the other man. “They seem to be in fine shape. Perhaps it’s how you’re trying to use them?”

“I dunno, maybe?” Zack shrugged, holding the marbles in his hand he frowned as he glanced down at them. “Uh, Genesis? Are they supposed to be doing this?”

Genesis, who had picked up and had reopened LOVELESS, looked up from the book and paled. The Materia were glowing, as they usually should. But instead of letting their power out, the power was thrashing about inside, causing cracks to form on the outside of the Materia.

“Zack, drop them!” It was the redhead’s yell that drew Angeal and Sephiroth from the kitchen as Zack dropped the Materia.

“What’s going on?” the General asked, his brows knitting together as Genesis whirled around to face the two. Grabbing the back of Zack’s shirt, the redhead hauled them towards the kitchen doorway.

“Out! Get out of the ro-” but before Genesis could finish his warning, the Materia on the floor shattered. Lightning-like sparks shot out and a bright light engulfed the four of them.

* * *

“Uggghh…” Zack moaned, blinking blearily as he sat up from where he had been thrown onto his back. “What the hell happened?” he wondered aloud, shaking his head.

Amethyst colored eyes gazed around and the Second Class SOLDIER froze. He wasn’t inside Sephiroth’s apartment anymore, that much was obvious. He was outside, but it wasn’t anywhere he knew, at least he didn’t think he knew it. Zack didn’t see any of his lovers either. It seemed like he was inside some sort of run down or abandoned city, like those he had seen back in Wutai, just more modern. It reminded him of the Slums, but he couldn’t be in the Slums. Looking up, he could clearly see the blue sky above.

The Slums didn’t have a sky anymore, with the Plates above them and those living under hadn’t seen the sky for a long time. Shaking his head again, Zack started towards the center of the ruins. Knowing the others, he knew that that was where they would head first. “Angeal! Genesis! Sephiroth!” he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth in an attempt to amplify his voice.

“Zack!” Was the shout he got as an answer fifteen minutes later from just a few streets away, it seemed. It was Angeal’s voice.

Turning towards where he heard the shout come from, Zack bolted town the empty streets. If there were any passersby, he would’ve looked like a dark blur shooting by. Running around a corner, his movement was forced to a stop as he ran into Angeal. Literally.

“Thank the Goddess.” Genesis sighed from behind Angeal, who embraced Zack. Pushing Angeal aside after a moment, the redhead wrapped his own arms around the younger man and hugged him in relief. “We just have Sephiroth to find now.”

“You haven’t found him yet?” Zack asked as he pulled away from Genesis.

The Commander shook his head, a frown on his lips. As Zack opened his mouth to ask another question, gunshots rang out from nearby, followed by the familiar sound of bullets being deflected off of metal. More specifically, it was the metal that made Masamune’s famous blade.

Blood drained from their faces for moments and the three SOLDIERS ran towards the sound. As they exited an alleyway, they found themselves inside what seemed to be a square. A flash of silver caught their attention and Genesis cast a Wall around the three when a bullet barely missed Angeal’s cheek.

“Seph!” Zack called worriedly to where the silver-haired man was surrounded by some sort of officers. From where they were, the three could make out the large initials on their outfits the back of the uniforms, WRO.

WRO? Genesis and Angeal exchanged confused looks while Zack rushed past the two and over to where Sephiroth stood, Masamune in hand. Though the General made to movement to attack the officers, merely defending himself from the bullets.

At least one of them had a weapon. Buster, Rapier and Zack’s sword had been left at Sephiroth’s apartment. Angeal and Zack both had training in Hand-To-Hand combat and with their enhanced speed that made them very lethal. Genesis of course, had his Materia.

But still, having a blade would’ve been nice.

“What’s going on?” Zack demanded, placing himself in front of his silver-haired lover, Genesis and Angeal flanking Sephiroth.

One of the officers sneered, pointing the barrel of his gun at Sephiroth, “You with ‘im?” He jerked his head towards the man, dark brown hair getting in his eyes.

“Yes.”

“SOLDIERs.” The man growled, taking notice of their glowing eyes. “Loyal dogs to the end, the lot of ya.”

“Lionel.” A voice nearby snapped and a man approached them, also wearing a WRO uniform. This one, unlike his colleagues, wore a helmet that covered the upper half of his head. From the end of his nose and below was visible. “Back off.” Turning his head slightly, he addressed the rest of them. “All of you.”

Slowly, the other officers lowered their guns and the man – who was obviously in charge – turned towards the ‘Puppy’. “Zack?” the man asked slowly, ignoring his coworker’s scowl and the others’ confusion. “Zack, is that you?”

“Kunsel?” Zack recognized his best friend’s voice and a grin spread across his face instantly. “Great to see you, buddy! Can you tell us what happened? One minute we’re in Seph’s apartment and the next we’re in the middle of these ruins?” he quizzed, looking around in confusion.

“Zack, what year is it?” Kunsel asked, almost hesitantly.

“It’s 2000, you should know that.” Zack answered his grin fading. “Why? And what’s with that outfit?”

“Look around you, all of you look around. Tell me, what do you see?” The WRO officer ignored Zack’s second question. “Really look around you.”

Brows furrowed in confusion as the four SOLDIERs looked around. Almost instantly Genesis’ expression turned grim while it took a few moments for Angeal and Sephiroth to realize where they were. Zack, stayed confused.

“What happened to Midgar?” Genesis breathed. Jaw dropping in surprise, Zack turned to face him so quickly that most people would’ve gotten whiplash.

“What do you mean ‘What happened to Midgar?’” Zack demanded while looks of realization dawned on Angeal and Sephiroth’s face as they too looked around. “We’re obviously not in Midgar, Gen! We’re in some ruins someplace… Wonder if that Materia I had was Teleport or something…” He mused.

“You’re in the ruins of Midgar,” one of the other WRO officers final spoke. “This town is Edge.”

Spluttering in shock, Zack wheeled around to face his other two lovers, hoping they’d speak sense. Both had grim expressions. “It’s true, Zack.” Angeal stated. “Look around. We’re in LOVELESS Avenue, or rather what used to be LOVELESS Avenue, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You’re not, Lieutenant Hewley,” Kunsel agreed before shaking his head. “As much as I’d like to tell you, it’s not my place to tell you what happened. If you come with me, I can take you to our boss and he’d be able to tell you. He or one of his friends will. Probably one of his friends,” he added.

Turning to his coworkers, Kunsel’s expression hardened. “Back to your assigned areas, all of you! I’ll escort these four to the President.”

“Yessir.” The officers saluted to Kunsel before leaving. The last one to leave was Lionel, who scowled darkly at the SOLDIERs before storming away.

“Sorry about him, he doesn’t like SOLDIERs much,” Kunsel apologized, turning to face the four. He jerked his head towards a street nearby. The one that, Genesis noticed, should headed towards the Shin-Ra building, if he was correct. “C’mon, WRO Headquarters isn’t far.”

* * *

Reeve Tuesti stared across his desk and at the four men who were _supposed_ to be dead. Well, rather they were dead in this timeline, but not yet in theirs, if what they were telling him was correct.

“Let me get this straight.” The WRO President frowned. “Li-erm, Second Class, Zack Fair was messing around with a couple of Materia and the next thing you knew you were wandering the streets of Edge?” He caught himself from calling Zack, Lieutenant.

“Yes,” Genesis answered, ignoring Zack’s protest that he hadn’t been messing around, but that the Materia had done it on their own. He was lounging comfortably in one of the leather chairs that was placed in front of Reeve’s desk. To most it seemed like lounging, but Reeve knew better. Having spent time with Vincent and Cloud, he knew that the Crimson Commander – despite his relaxed appearance – was on high alert.

The others were as well. The brunette SOLDIER was sitting in the matching chair, next to Genesis’. Unlike his lover though, Angeal wasn’t lounging. Instead he was sitting up straight, arms crossed in front of his chest and dark brows were furrowed thoughtfully and in worry.

Zack was standing a bit away from the table. He was rotating between fast-paced squats, which Reeve vaguely recalled that the dark-haired teen had been famous for, and pacing around Reeve’s office. Reeve could see from where he was sitting in his own comfortable leather chair that Zack was chewing his lip nervously.

The only one who truly seemed calm was Sephiroth, who was leaning against the cool glass pane of the window, his head tilted just slightly to press his cheek against the glass. Sharp, emerald colored eyes were looking out the window and down at the city below. Like Angeal, his arms were crossed against his chest but unlike his lover; his face was neutral of any emotion. Reeve couldn’t get a proper read on him.

And that worried the older man.

It had been an hour ago when he had gotten a text from his Second-In-Command. Apparently the man had been patrolling in the Slums when he had heard gunshots from one of his platoon and went to investigate. What he had found was several of his platoon members shooting at Sephiroth.

Then Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley and Zack Fair had shown up. According to Kunsel, they thought that the year was 2000. The ex-SOLDIER had sort-of corrected them and had led them to Reeve’s office.

The four then had explained the events of their evening and how they had woken in Edge this morning.

“Well,” Reeve began, “it seems like whatever Materia Zack was using has sent you to this time.” He ignored the snort and look from Genesis that practically said ‘Well, duh.’

“Until we can get this problem sorted out and you back to the correct timeline, I’ve asked a friend of mine to help you settle into living here in the WRO. I’m certain he will tell you what has happened to cause Shin-Ra’s downfall and the end of Midgar.” After their explanation, Reeve had quickly sent a text the person he knew would be best suited to taking care of these four.

“Why won’t you tell us yourself? Kunsel was unwilling to tell us as well.” Sephiroth spoke for the first time since entering the office. His cat-like eyes met Reeve’s dark ones.

“If anyone is to tell you what has happened, it should be him,” Reeve answered.

“Who is he?”

“I will not tell you that, but I can tell you that you know him.” Reeve only hoped that having him work with Sephiroth and the others would be healing, rather than damaging. A quiet noise caught their attention and Reeve looked down at his PHS.

“Ah, he’s on his way up.”

It was a few minutes in silence before the door handle turned and all five of those inside of the office turned to face the newcomer as the door swung open. Who stepped inside surely had to be the child of the Goddess, each time-traveler thought. With sun-kissed hair that shone gold in the light and spiked up into a Chocobo-like crest. He had a lithe form and skin as pale as snow. Sapphire colored eyes that were big and seemingly innocent looking. His sleeveless sweater showed muscled arms that were adorned with bare-visible scars.

Zack’s low whistle caught the man’s attention and Cloud Strife froze in shock at seeing not one, not two, not even three, but all four of his dead lovers sitting in Reeve’s office. “Damn, Chocobo! You got _hot_!”

“You have filled in nicely, very nicely indeed,” Genesis agreed with his younger lover, aquamarine eyes raking over Cloud’s form, taking in every detail. Angeal nodded in agreement before he looked curiously at what he could see of the large swords in the harness that was strung on Cloud’s back. He noticed that a few looked almost to be based off of his own Buster Sword. Maybe they were?

Sephiroth though, looked at the older version of their blonde lover in confusion. He alone held Cloud’s full attention, and while that would’ve made him smile any other day, today was different. Sapphire eyes weren’t looking at him in love and affection, as they had done earlier in their time.

No. These eyes, tinted with the ring of green Mako around the pupils, were staring at him in what could only be one emotion. One that Sephiroth was accustomed to seeing on nearly everyone, from those in Wutai to President Shin-Ra himself. He was used to seeing it on everyone but his ‘father’ and lovers’ faces.

_Terror._


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross posted on my Tumblr and Fanfiction.net account.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the games associated with that series.

When Cloud had received a text from Reeve, asking him to stop by the older man’s office, he had assumed it would be for a package or one of the rare missions he took for the WRO. The blonde had just finished up his last delivery for the day when he had received the text. Thankfully the delivery had been inside of Edge, meaning that the ride over to WRO’s Headquarters was a short one.

After parking Fenrir and heading inside, Cloud greeted the receptionist – Renee, or something – before strolling into the elevator. He normally would have preferred taking the stairs (while his motion sickness wasn’t as bad as it used to be, it was still affected by small things like this), but by the way Reeve’s text had been written, whatever he needed seemed unusually urgent.

Slightly staggering out of the elevator several floors later (looking a bit green too), Cloud righted himself before walking down the seemingly endless hallways, heading towards the President’s office.

What he had been expecting to find inside of Reeve’s office had been a worried or concerned man. Or perhaps a relaxed one, sitting behind his desk and tinkering with one of the many robotic projects the man was working on.

What the blonde hadn’t been expecting was to see his four dead lovers inside.

It was Zack’s low whistle that brought his attention to them and he froze. For a moment Cloud thought he felt his heart literally stop as he took in the sight of a younger Zack, mid-squat, near Reeve’s desk.

“Damn Chocobo, you got _hot_!”

A nervous and surprised laugh bubbled in Cloud’s throat but he swallowed it down instead as his gaze raked over the five men inside of the office before settling on one.

In his peripheral vision, Cloud could see that Genesis was looking him over, a flattering smile adoring his lips as he ‘lounged’ in one of the comfortable leather chairs in front of Reeve’s office. “You have filled in nicely, very nicely indeed,” the redhead was agreed with Zack.

Angeal was sitting straight-backed in the other chair, gazing at him curiously as he nodded in agreement with Genesis. Cloud watched briefly as Angeal’s attention turned to the swords strapped onto his back, a faint frown curving the larger man’s lips downwards.

Reeve himself was watching Cloud cautiously, the blonde noticed. Sitting comfortably in the leather chair that was stained with different oils from Gaia knew what.

Only one of them had the delivery man’s full attention though. Standing there calmly, looking at him with a mix of bewilderment and curiosity; was Sephiroth.

It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head, the pure terror that ran through his veins at seeing the one man who had managed to make his life pure hell. A hot flash followed the cold one as pure anger ran through him shortly afterwards. Although, this Sephiroth (like everyone else who was supposed to be dead) looked younger.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Cloud spun on his heel to face Reeve. A blonde brow just barely managed to rise before the man was answering his unasked question, “Young Mister Zackary Fair had an accident with Materia earlier. Somehow he managed to mix Stop and Warp together in a way that has caused him and the others to time-travel from the past to here. I can only assume – and hope – that we can reverse the effects with some help from Yuffie.”

Cloud’s lips pressed together tightly as he thought over what the other man told him. “When are they from?”

“We’re right here you know.” Genesis tsk’ed loudly, annoyance dripping in his tone though his brows were furrowed. “You could ask us, Cloud.” He huffed, crossing his arms.

Sapphire glanced over at him before refocusing on Reeve, the blonde not bothering to respond. Genesis’ expression faltered and the others (ixnay Reeve) frowned at Cloud, more in worry than anything else. Had something in this Cloud’s past that caused the blonde man to dislike them, or give him a reason to ignore them so blatantly? Did they break up with him sometime in the future?

“They thought the year was 2000,” Reeve answered, shooting the others an apologetic look for Cloud’s behavior. He opened one of the drawers to his desk and began to rummage through it. The head of the WRO smiled as he pulled a keycard out of it. “Here, this is the key for the apartment I’m always offering to you,” he said, offering the card to Cloud. The blonde took it as Reeve shook his head fondly and said, “Yet you’re always declining the offer. Not that I blame you, your home is very homely.”

The four others in the room noticed the faint smile that momentarily graced Cloud’s lips before it disappeared. “I think the kids would go on a strike of sorts until I returned home. They threatened to unless I moved back in after all.”

Reeve laughed lightly and nodded in agreement. “Knowing those two, they would.”

_Kids?_ Sephiroth’s brow rose as he exchanged a confused look with Zack, Angeal and Genesis doing the same. Did they adopt sometime in the future? Why had Cloud moved out? Just… what had happened?

While they were deep in thought, wondering what would happen sometime in the near future, Reeve kept talking to Cloud. “I’ll be sure to send someone out for groceries soon. You might want to text Tifa asking for some extra clothing as well. I’d like for you to explain to them what has happened within recent years, perhaps if we’re lucky and find some way to get them back to their time, they can keep what has happened now from happening then. Whether or not it would happen, it is better to be safe than sorry.” Dropping his voice lower, Reeve murmured, “You need to keep an eye on all of them, especially Genesis. From what I remember, and I know you remember too, it started the year they’re from.”

Cloud nodded once then turned to the others. “It’s getting late. We better head up.” Four silent nods of agreement followed. Genesis and Angeal stood while Sephiroth pushed himself away from the window with an elbow. Zack straightened from a squat and stretched his arms above him. “Follow me,” the blonde commanded quietly, nodding a goodbye towards Reeve, before turning and exiting the office.

The walk to the elevator was silent, the four time-travelers each caught up in thoughts of their own. Genesis was worried about the reaction that Cloud had given to seeing them. Angeal wondered if Cloud had left them sometime in the future or if they had left him. Zack on the other hand, was curious to know what happened to the Cloud they had known; and Sephiroth…

Sephiroth wondered why Cloud had been terrified of him, why he had seen the pure anger in those sapphire hues that he loved. What had he done to Cloud to make the blonde look at him like that? Like he had destroyed his whole world, like he had killed everyone Cloud loved and held dear?

The ride up in the elevator was as silent as the walk to it was. Cloud leaned against the side of the small room-like box, as far away from the others as he could. His mind was still reeling from having found them sitting in Reeve’s office, almost like nothing was wrong – almost like they were about to be scolded by Lazard, again.

His fingers dug into his skin, no doubt leaving bruises that would heal momentarily. Goddess, it was hard to see them all again. Angeal, the last time he had seen the Lieutenant had been right before the man had Zack kill him, when he had attacked the blonde with an apology, knocking him out. Genesis… Cloud wasn’t certain when he had last seen the redhead, but he assumed that the man too, was dead. And Zack…

Cloud quietly attempted to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat. The last time he had seen the bouncy Fi-Second, had been as he died, having died protecting Cloud. Sephiroth on the other hand… The delivery man wasn’t certain what to think about him yet. On one hand, he hadn’t gone insane yet, yet being the keyword.

He had to admit that he was surprised on how quiet the others were being as the elevator doors opened and they walked out. Down one hallway and then turn down another and they were at the large apartment that Reeve tried to push on Cloud after the WRO Headquarters had finished.

A small beep from Cloud’s PHS caught his attention and he flipped it open. Cloud read the message aloud as Genesis and Zack poked around the apartment curiously, “Reeve said that he’d send someone with clothing for you guys shortly and groceries before dinnertime.”

“Sounds good,” Angeal said as he sat down on one of the couches, Sephiroth perching himself next to him on the arm of the couch.

“The apartment is decent enough, nothing like our own but, it’ll do,” Genesis announced as he reappeared into the living room. Strolling over to the others, he sat down in one of chairs and stretched out, tossing his legs over the arm. _“My friend, your desire, is the bringer of life, the gift of the Goddess.”_

“Quoting LOVELESS again, Gen?” Zack asked, poking his head out of the kitchen. “Three bedrooms, one chef sized kitchen, two baths, and a nice living room,” he told the others as he too, joined them in the living room. “C’mon Cloudy! Sit down!” He grinned widely at Cloud.

The blonde shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. He ignored the pout that the raven haired man sent his way before the SOLDIER was chatting away again.

“Hey! Are we going to meet our future selves?” Zack asked excitedly. “I think that’d be really cool! I want to see how we’ve changed. Has Genesis finally gotten any gray hairs he’s always ranting about having?” He snickered at the noise of protest coming from his redheaded boyfriend and continued chatting on, not noticing how Cloud’s hands had tightened into fists or the slightly pained look on his face. “Did Angeal open up a flower shop with Aerith or just a flower shop by himself? How is Aerith by the way? What’s Sephiroth doing? What am _I_ doing? Ho-”

“Zack, stop,” Cloud cut him off. Zack flinched at how sharply the blonde had said his name. Shooting the blonde a curious glace, he took a step forward in concern when he saw the pained look.

“Cloud…?” Genesis asked softly. He held his hands out as he too, stepped forward. Angeal and Sephiroth exchanged worried glances as Cloud shook his head, schooled his features before turning to face the others.

“It… it isn’t possible for you to meet your future selves,” he said, skillfully avoiding the eye contact that the others were trying to make. “Or for me to tell you what you’re doing now.”

“Ah…” Zack rubbed the back of his neck and gave a faint, uncertain grin. “It’s because of the whole time travel thing, huh? If we meet our future selves we might make a paradox or something? Or is that time traveling into the past..?” he mused aloud.

Cloud shook his head again. “That’s not the reason.” Making eye contact, he took a quiet breath before saying, “It’s because you’re all dead.”


	3. Chatper Three (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross posted on my Tumblr and Fanfiction.net account.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the games associated with that series.

_“It’s because you’re all dead.”_

A long silence followed Cloud’s sentence as the others struggled to accept what the blonde had said; to hear that all of them (besides Cloud) would be dead in less than, what, five years? It was almost laughable to even think that the four strongest men on the planet were dead in such a short amount of time. Genesis actually felt a laugh bubble up his throat before he forced it down at seeing the look on Cloud’s face…

It was Zack who broke the silence. “You… you’re telling the truth, aren’t you?” The Second Class’ face was unusually grim and pale. His hands were shaking slightly as he sat down in one of the armchairs. Angeal too, looked unusually grim and pale.

The blonde nodded silently, adverting his gaze once more. His own hands were trembling as he moved to sit in an armchair, one that faced all four of the time-travelers. On the outside, Sephiroth looked emotionless, but on the inside he was shaken. What had happened that had caused their deaths? Who had died first, who most recently? No wonder Cloud had been shocked to see them, and angry to se…

Acidic eyes widened slightly as Sephiroth recalled the absolute looks of fear and loathing Cloud had given him when he had seen him. Was he the reason they were all dead? Had _he_ done something to hurt his lovers? These thoughts left him more shaken than the thought of being dead. It was Angeal’s hand gently grasping his that pulled the silverette out of his thoughts and he gave the man a faint, fleeting smile before returning to his somber expression.

Genesis fell into the seat he had previously occupied. “How?” he voiced the unasked question aloud. “How did…” he paused, looking pained, took a deep breath and cleared his throat before continuing, “how did we _die_?” The redhead’s voice cracked on the last word. He didn’t (and Genesis was certain that the others didn’t as well) want to know what had happened, he didn’t want to know how he had died. But most of all, he didn’t want to put Cloud through the pain he was obviously going to be in again, going through memories like those. Some things were better off not being known, but this – their deaths – was important and they needed to know how, so that they could find a way to stop them.

The blonde was silent for a long moment before he spoke, “I guess I should start at the beginning. It begins over two thousand years ago…” And he did. Cloud told them about the beginning of the Cetra, WEAPONs and of Jenova. He told them about Gast, Hollander and Hojo, about how Angeal and Genesis were technically the first SOLDIERs, the ‘beta’ versions and of how Sephiroth was supposedly the ‘perfected’ version.

He told them about Projects S and G; and of the start of Angeal’s and Genesis’ degrading. “It began after Genesis was hurt in a spar. He… changed. He became snappish, angered more quickly than normal and mostly downright awful to be around,” Cloud said. “Sometimes it almost seemed like he didn’t know what he was doing. He seemed to snap out of something most of the time, and apologized immediately after he realized what he was doing. But those times came less and less until he stopped apologizing altogether. Genesis started pulling away after that, and then one day while on a mission in Wutai, he disappeared. He took a few platoons of Second and Third Class SOLDIERs with him.” Cloud sighed.

“Not long after that, we heard rumors and reports of Shin-Ra bases being attacked by Genesis and his SOLDIERs…” The blonde continued on, telling them about how Angeal had started acting off shortly afterwards, the tense months that followed Genesis’ departure before Angeal too, left Shin-Ra.

Cloud told them of Banora’s destruction, the attack on a reactor and of the attack on Shin-Ra. He told them of how Angeal had told them that Genesis had been staying at an abandoned Mako Plant in Modeoheim.

“Lazard dispatched us to Modeoheim. Originally the Director wanted to send Sephiroth, but he pulled rank and passed the mission onto Zack (Sephiroth flinched at hearing that). It was Zack, Tseng, another trooper and me – I think Lazard sent me on purpose,” Cloud said, frowning thoughtfully. He then gave a quiet snort and at seeing the curious looks sent his way he explained, “Tseng crashed the helicopter. He claims to this day that it was a machine malfunction.”

The younger man then continued with the story, “We made it to the Mako Plant with no injures other than a few scratches and bruises from the crash.” Cloud paused, a pained expression spreading across his face as he told them of Zack confronting Genesis. “Genesis fell down a mako well after that and was presumed dead.”

“Presumed?” Genesis himself broke in. The redhead felt a bit of relief at hearing that he was not dead (yet, he reminded himself grimly) by falling down a mako shaft of all things.

“We found out later that you weren’t,” Cloud answered shortly. Before anyone else could ask anything, a knock on the front door drew their attention. The blonde was up before anyone else was.

Opening the door, sapphire blinked in surprise at not seeing anyone and then he glanced down. Cait Sith stood there, several bags in the AI’s arms, one smelling particularly good.

“Hey Cait,” Cloud greeted the robot, kneeling to accept the bags from him.

“Hiya, Lad!” the AI chirped brightly. “Reeve said to drop these off fer ya and the other boys stayin’ with ya. Glad ta see that yer taking up his offer of using yer apartment!”

Before Cloud could respond, Zack’s voice piped up curiously. “What _is_ that?”

Frowning faintly as he stood, Cloud turned to face the other four, who were looking at Cait curiously. “Cait Sith is not an it; he’s an AI – as in Artificial Intelligence. Reeve created him years ago. He’s also a friend,” he explained before turning to the robot again. “Thanks for dropping these off, Cait. Tell Reeve thanks too,” he said. Raising the bag of take-out up, he cocked a brow at the familiar smell. “Wutaian?”

“Yep! I’ll let Reeve know that ya thanked him. I’ll be glad ta finally speak ta someone who isn’t as busy as Reeve is,” the AI laughed, cat-like face stretching into a grin. “That bag,” he pointed at a shopping bag, “Is just fer ya, Cloud. Special from Reeve,” the AI snickered and then pointedly ignored the curious look Cloud gave him, instead raising his voice, “See ya lads around!”

“Bye, Cait,” Cloud watched the AI disappear around a corner in the hallway before setting his bags aside on a table for a moment. “Here.” He tossed the rest of the bags (ixnay the one with food) at the others. The red one was obviously for Genesis, who caught his with ease. Purple for Zack, who nearly fell off of the couch trying to catch his. Silver for Sephiroth, who simply looked amused at the color choice, and brown for Angeal. His own bag was black, and Cloud gave it a fond glance. Tifa had packed his stuff in his favored bag for when he was going to be on the road for a while.

Cloud made his way over to the others, digging out five pairs of chopsticks. He passed them out before producing the food, each snagging their favored food. Sephiroth was silently pleased to see that Reeve (who he had considered a friend of sorts) had remembered his, and his lovers, favorite orders.

Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal had no trouble with the chopsticks, used to using them during their stays in Wutai. Zack however, was having several issues. Setting his carton of food down, Cloud gave the young man an amused glance before deciding to help, seeing as how the others weren’t going to.

“Like this, Zack.” Cloud leaned over from his seat, nimble hands correcting the other’s grip on his chopsticks. “It can be difficult at first, but it’s easy to do once you get the hang of it.”

“How’d you learn?” Zack asked curiously, turning his gaze downwards to scowl grumpily at the chopsticks. He ignored the amused huffs coming from his lovers as he tried the way that Cloud had shown him and to his delight it worked better than how he had been attempting to use the utensils.

Cloud too, shot Zack an amused look. “I’m friends with Wutai’s Princess, so it’s kinda necessary to know how to eat with ‘em. She taught me,” he explained. He ignored the surprised exclamations from Zack and Genesis, as well as the curious looks from Angeal and Sephiroth, in favor of finishing the carton he was eating. “You’ll probably be meeting her, she’s a Materia expert. If anything like your predicament has happened before, she’ll know.”

The others accepted this and the rest of dinner was a quiet affair, each person mulling over their thoughts about what had been said so far. Genesis was still struggling to accept that in the near future it was possible that he would began to degrade, and so would Angeal. He supposed it was a good thing that he wasn’t dead, yet. No one had died so far, and Cloud had said that months had passed. Perhaps they had time to find a cure? After all, this Cloud had told them that Hollander hadn’t been actually searching for a cure, too interested in what had been happening to his and Angeal’s bodies.

Angeal was thinking along the same lines as Genesis, while Sephiroth was struggling with his own thoughts. Why had he pulled rank on this mission? There was only one answer he could come up with – that someone would actually die. It obviously wasn’t Genesis, seeing as how he had ‘died’ already, or would it just be Genesis supposedly dying? He prayed that that would be the only ‘death’ on this mission, but his gut told him otherwise.

Zack was wondering how Cloud had gotten his mako shots. If he was correct in guessing the timeline (and he usually was good with this math-like stuff, so he was) the SOLDIER exams had happened. The blonde sitting next to him had mentioned that he was still a trooper, so did that mean they had pushed it off with the whole thing going on with Wutai and Genesis, Angeal and the attack on Shin-Ra? No, wait, the attack had happened days, almost a week, afterward. So, did that mean they had put it off personally? Or was it just coincidence? SOLDIER was obviously a sensitive subject (by the way Cloud was acting about it), so Zack figured asking later would probably be the best. Or maybe Cloud would just tell them.

When dinner was finished, it was cleared away quickly with everyone tossing the empty cartons away and sticking the leftovers in the fridge. They retook their seats, but with a few changes. Sephiroth was seated between Angeal and Zack on the couch, Genesis still had an armchair, but it was the one closest to Cloud’s. The blonde didn’t seem quite comfortable with it, as he kept glancing at the redhead Commander every few moments and shifted away a bit, but if it was really bothering him, he’d say something. They hoped, away.

Cloud cleared his throat before he continued on with the story, telling them of making their way to the bathhouse, of Cloud and Tseng heading in first, getting attacked by Angeal and Angeal clones. The delivery man’s clasped hands were trembling as he told them of Angeal’s death at Zack’s hands. “He merged with the clones he summoned, creating a chimera of sorts. Angeal attacked Zack, forced him to kill him. Before he died, Angeal passed the Buster, along with his honor, onto Zack.”

The blonde then paused, allowing the others time to accept what they had just heard. Angeal’s expression was grim, lips pressed together tightly. He agreed with his ‘future’ self’s choice of who to pass the Buster onto, but had wished that it hadn’t happened the way it had.

A few tears were slipping down Genesis’ cheeks at hearing of how his best friend – his first lover, his person he cared about in any way – had died. Merged into the body of a monster, Goddess… He deserved much better. Zack was crying too, a hand raised to his mouth, muffling any noises that left him. He was burrowed into Sephiroth’s side, the silverette’s arm wrapped tightly around him. Acidic eyes held the grief that his expression didn’t show.

Cloud’s head was ducked, bangs hiding his eyes as he too, silently mourned. It was several minutes before Cloud spoke softly again, “Everything changed after that. Shin-Ra made cover ups, silencing those who knew that Angeal and Genesis hadn’t died the way that they had claimed beforehand. Our relationship changed too – Sephiroth, Zack’s and mine. We were closer than before, but there was a gap leftover, one that we knew couldn’t be filled by anything or anyone, we didn’t even try to.”

He sighed softly, raising his head as he talked, “It was a year later when everything changed again. Early in the summer, Hollander – who had been arrested – went missing along with Lazard. Then in late autumn, the Turks were sent to Nibelheim’s reactor after the workers there went missing. They found a large outbreak of monsters and asked for SOLDIER backup. Sephiroth, Zack, I and another cadet went to deal with the situation. The day we got there we went up to the reactor to see what the problem was, and that’s where everything started to go wrong again.”

Cloud grimaced at the memory and rubbed ghost wounds, “Genesis showed up. He attacked the other cadet and I, killing the other one and but only hurt me,” Cloud said, frowning faintly in puzzlement. He hadn’t really thought of it before, but why had Genesis left him mostly uninjured? Had some part of him recognized Cloud, even with the helmet on? Shaking his head to clear away these thoughts, the blonde continued on, “He went into the Reactor, told Sephiroth that he too, was a product of Shin-Ra’s experiments. Genesis told him to read the reports that Hojo left in Shin-Ra Mansion’s basement. What neither of them knew, was that most of the reports left behind were false, planted by Hojo in hopes of driving Sephiroth insane and to create a ‘reunion’ between ‘son’ and ‘mother’,” Cloud spat out angrily.

“Sephiroth did read those reports, locked himself in the library, reading day after day after day. Nothing Zack and I tried ever brought him out of there. He began to eat less and less, driving Zack and I nearly insane ourselves with worry…” Cloud chuckled faintly, a bitter smile on his lips. “He came out one day though, on the seventh day. That was the day that Nibelheim burned.”

“ _What_?” All four practically shouted.

Cloud winced and rubbed at his ears, shooting the others a disapproving look before it morphed into a grim one. He nodded as he lowered his hands. “Something in him snapped. He gave into Jenova’s advances. She,” Cloud hesitated for a moment before continuing, “She can control the minds of those who have a majority of her blood. From what I understand and know from experience, the closer you are to her, to better control she has. Sephiroth fought, but in the end, something just snapped when he read those journals, those false tales, the lies.”

“With Jenova in control, he attacked and killed most of the villagers, including Tifa’s dad and my mom.” Instantly Sephiroth flinched. All four of them had met Mama Strife, all liked her. To hear that someone who had treated him like her own son, was killed by his own hands… Zack’s hand rested on top of his suddenly and Sephiroth glanced at the other man, who gave him a shaky, but gentle smile.

Cloud (who had watched the interaction) continued after reassuring himself that Sephiroth was in control at the moment. “He went to the reactor to get Jenova, he wounded Tifa there and that’s where he and Zack fought, after Zack and I got there. Zack lost, and Sephiroth pulled Jenova’s head off of her body when I attacked him with the Buster.” This got noises of surprise. Cloud ignored them and went on, wanting to get it done and over with, “We fought. It was a short fight though, I was ran through with Masamune,” Cloud raised a hand again to press against the spot on his chest where the scar from that night, that attack, rested.

“But the wound I had given him was fatal, even with his fast healing Sephiroth wasn’t healing fast enough and was bleeding out. I somehow managed to get my footing and attack Sephiroth again, and this time, I tossed Sephiroth along with Jenova’s head into the reactor.” This statement was met with choking noises from the other four. Cloud silently prided himself momentarily for shocking the others, and a chuckle escaped past his lips as he shrugged. “What? I did.”

“Did you rescue Tifa and I like princes rescue fair maidens?” Zack teased after getting over the initial shock. The other three tossed him curious looks too, wondering what happened after that.

Cloud shook his head; a smile flittered across his face before his expression was schooled again. “I was bleeding fairly badly from where Sephiroth had stabbed me,” he said. The blonde raised a hand and placed it over where the scar he had obtained from that night rested. “I made my way out into the area where Zack and Tifa were before I collapsed.” He frowned as he dug around in his memories for a moment. “I… I remember waking up briefly, just a few seconds, to see Hojo directing SOLDIERs to carry us – Zack and I – to someplace. He was muttering about how we’d make fine specimens and of how his finest had been defeated in the end.”

The blood had drained out of the other four’s faces. Sephiroth’s lips were pressed together tightly, hands curving into fists as he resisted the urge to punch _something_.He had sworn when he had gotten together with first Genesis and Angeal, and later Zack and Cloud, that he would _never_ let the man who called himself his _father_ get his hands on his lovers.

Angeal and Genesis however, were horrified. They both knew what happened to Sephiroth whenever Hojo called him into the labs, even if Sephiroth dismissed it like it was nothing. They knew he was being tortured, not only psychically, but mentally as well.

“So, you mean, your eyes…” Zack stammered, unable to finish as his own mako-gaze darted up to meet Cloud’s. His mind didn’t even seem to process that Cloud had all but said that he was still alive, and also in Hojo’s care. What it did process, however, was that his lover had been placed in Hojo’s care as well.

“You were not given your injections willingly, were you?” Sephiroth asked. When Cloud raised his head to meet the General’s gaze, all he saw there was understanding. Not a look of pity (something he was often given), but simple understanding. It reminded him of the looks Vincent gave him whenever Hojo was mentioned, or of the looks he gave Vincent. They had both suffered at Hojo’s hands, Vincent much longer than Cloud had, but they had suffered all the same.

As had Sephiroth.

“No, I wasn’t,” Cloud agreed after a moment. He had almost forgotten that Sephiroth had suffered just like he and Vincent had. Almost as long as Vincent and in much harsher ways that having demons or a WEAPON bound to him. “Hojo was pissed that I had killed Sephiroth – me, a little trooper who couldn’t even make SOLDIER. He tried to make Zack and me into Sephiroth Clones. Failed, obviously, due to the amount of natural mako I carry and because Zack had been a SOLDIER before Hojo got his hands on him.”

“I… I don’t remember much after the last time I woke up before the labs. I have quite a few dark spots or gaps in my memory because of the mako poisoning I had,” Cloud explained. “Nor can I remember much after the labs, again due to the mako poisoning.” He closed his eyes as he thought of the last few moments he had had with Zack before the man’s death. “I remember a few details though, of when we approached Midgar. Cissnei told me that Zack had planned on hiding in Midgar, right under Shin-Ra’s noses. That’d be the last place they’d look after all.” A soft, fond chuckle left the blonde.

“I can barely just remember being in the back of a pickup truck. Zack was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him, though I could see the grin he gave me before I fell back into the darkness. The next thing I can remember is feeling him ruffling my hair, and I opened my eyes. My whole body felt heavy, weighed down by something I couldn’t see. I reached out for him, watched as he walked away, and then the darkness came again, but in waves this time. I can remember hearing shouts, garbled noises, the sound of a helicopter, guns shooting and then silence.”

Cloud paused to take a deep breath, hands shaking as he continued to speak, tone forcefully calm, “When the darkness stopped claiming me so frequently, I crawled out of the hiding place Zack left me in. I crawled over to him. It felt like it took forever, with how heavy my arms felt, my body felt, how the darkness attempted to claim me again and again, but never quite doing so. Zack,” Cloud swallowed harshly, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He dipped his head to hide them, his voice cracking just slightly as he continued.

“He… he was shot, dying… And he did, Zack died there, on that cliff. He passed his – and by extension Angeal’s – honor and dreams onto me as he bled out; he gave me the Buster. I think… I think he knew he wasn’t going to make it, when the military faced him, and I think… No, I know he accepted that he would die that day,” Cloud said seriously, even as hot tears slipped down his cheeks. “He died the way he would’ve wanted to; protecting someone he cared about – someone he loved.”

The others were silent; Angeal and Sephiroth both nodded just slightly in agreement, both unable to speak. Zack was trembling next to Sephiroth and the silver-haired General carefully lifted the younger man from his spot and scooted over to place him between Sephiroth and Angeal. It was one thing to hear that you had died; and it was another to hear exactly _how_ you had died.

Genesis sat silently in his chair, his body language showing grief as he had done at hearing Angeal’s death and Sephiroth’s. True, he wasn’t as close to Zack as he was to Sephiroth, Angeal and even Cloud, but he still loved the young man dearly. The redhead silently swore to himself at that moment to remedy that in the near future.

It was several moments before Cloud reached up and scrubbed a hand over his face, wiping the tears away. He took a deep breath as he looked up again, continuing from where he had stopped, “I took the Buster Sword, and finished the walk to Midgar, practically dragging it behind me. It was in the Train Graveyard that Tifa found me, and that where we’re stopping for tonight. It’s getting pretty late,” the blonde said as he glanced at the clock. It read close to three in the morning.

“But,” Zack began to protest, frowning. He needed to know what happened next, Cloud hadn’t told them how he had become the way he was. Or what had happened to Midgar, or anyone else they knew.

“Tomorrow,” Cloud repeated firmly. He frowned as Zack opened his mouth to protest again. “Like I said, it’s getting late, I’m tired and I’ve told you enough for one night already. Tomorrow, Zack,” the blonde sighed. His expression softened a bit as he said, “It’s a lot to take in. It might not hit you right now, but it will soon.” With that said; Cloud turned on his heel and stalked down the hallway and into one of the pair bedrooms – managing to snag the bag shopping bag along with his bag with his clothes and toiletries off of the table without missing a step.

The four watched him go, none of them uttering another protest.

“I don’t think I’m going to sleep well tonight,” Genesis sighed after a long moment, raising a hand to rub his temple. Sephiroth made a quiet noise of agreement while Zack slumped against Angeal.

“I don’t think any of us will,” Angeal said after another moment. “But Cloud was right, it is getting late. We should at least try to, before the morning comes.”

“Fine,” Genesis agreed, pushing himself upright before standing. Making his way over to the bags Cloud had left in the only empty chair he stated, “I get the bathroom _first._ ”

* * *

Despite being fairly tired, Cloud took his time unpacking his clothes. It gave him something to do besides think. He knew he couldn’t put off thinking forever, but he needed even just a little bit of time before he would let his whole world flip upside down.

They were alive, they were _here_ , and even though what he was telling them was painful, was something that he had never truly discussed with anyone else, it could help. It would help, if they went back to their own timeline or alternate universe and things followed the same way.

All too soon the bag was empty, clothes were refolded and put away, and he had his thoughts again. Cloud sighed, ran a hand through his hair, debating on what to do next when he spotted the extra bag for him sitting on the bed. Snagging it off of the bed, Cloud’s eye twitched in annoyance as he looked inside of the shopping bag, a box of condoms and bottle of lube lying oh so innocently inside of it, along with a folded note. Plucking the note out of the bag, he sat on the bed as he read it.

_‘Thought that you’d might be needing these sometime soon, perhaps not tonight, but soon. ;)_

_Teasing aside, I do wish to apologize for suddenly springing all of this on you, Cloud. As well as asking you to be the one to tell them what has happened in our timeline. It was a sudden choice and I didn’t think about you and your needs when I decided to bring you in. I know this must be hard on you, but I do hope that sometime soon you open up to these four. They might not be your Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth or Zack, but they are a version of them. I am not saying that you have to put the condoms or lube I’ve gifted you to use, but what harm could it bring befriending them during their time here? I know that you have been working hard to fit back in with the rest of the world, to stay close to those you care about, but I also know that you have been struggling. I can only hope and pray to the Goddess that working with these four will help you, Cloud, rather than damage you._

_I wish you the best of luck and shall talk to you tomorrow,_

_~Reeve.’_

Cloud stared down at the note, reading it once, then twice. He sighed as he dropped the bag onto the bed beside himself and ran a hand through his hair. The blonde wasn’t certain if he wanted to wring Reeve’s neck, or hug the man. On one hand, the man was giving him time with the four who had impacted his life majorly when he had been younger, people whom he had loved with all of his heart. On the other hand, Reeve was wrong. There could be harm befriending those four. What would happen if he got attached again, opened his heart to those four again, only to have them disappear back to their own timeline or universe, leaving him again. What if things played out the same way as last time, with Genesis going insane, Angeal leaving and Sephiroth losing control to that alien bitch and Zack dying, but with them here this time?

The delivery man shook his head, reminding himself that Jenova was truly and well gone, so there went the possibility of Jenova taking over this version of Sephiroth, but the thing with Genesis going insane was still possible, unless… Cloud paused, eyes widening a bit.

Degradation was similar to Geostigma, wasn’t it? Was it possible that Aerith’s healing water could hear Genesis’ degradation if it began to show while they were still here? He scowled as he _felt_ his hopes rising. Too much thought, too much to think about right now.

Shoving any and all thoughts of the other four in the apartment aside, Cloud groaned as he sat up, snagging the bag off of the bed as he stood. He gave it one last look before stashing it away up onto the top self of his closet built-ins, carefully moving things around so it was well hidden. It would be a nightmare if any of those four found the items inside.

The blonde snagged a towel from another shelf and his small bag of toiletries before making his way out into the hallway, then into the bathroom for a shower. Cloud took his time, scrubbing shampoo into his hair, rise and repeat with conditioner. He let the hot water wash over his body, mind blissfully empty for the moment, thinking only of the actions of cleaning himself.

Sadly it couldn’t last, and Cloud knew it. When he had scrubbed his body from heat to toe the second time, he regretfully left the shower, toweled himself dry and wrapped the towel around his waist before making his way back to ‘his bedroom’, passing the other’s in the process. From what his hearing could pick up, at least two of them were asleep if the deep, steady breaths were anything to go by. The other two (Cloud wasn’t sure which two it was) were talking in such low tones that he could only hear the low noises leaving them, but couldn’t pick up any of the words.

He stepped into his bedroom and quietly shut the door behind him. The ex-mercenary tossed on a pair of sweatpants and a wife beater before crawling under the covers, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the day hit him. Despite knowing that he’d probably have a horrible time sleeping, Cloud wrapped his arms around one of the rather fluffy pillows and rested his head against it as he began to fall into the predicted, fitful sleep.


	4. Chatper Three (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cross posted on my Tumblr and Fanfiction.net account.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the games associated with that series.

Early morning light peeked through the curtains, leaving stripes on the walls as well as some on the floor and across the four men sleeping in the large bed.

It was Angeal who woke first, lying on his back. He raised a hand to shield his sensitive eyes from the light as he slowly blinked away sleep. After a few minutes of lying in the bed, waking fully, he began carefully untangling himself from the others.

Genesis and Sephiroth were both lying on their sides; the redhead had a tight grip on Angeal’s waist, his head buried into the Lieutenant’s shoulder. Sephiroth’s arm had draped itself across Genesis’ waist and part of his as well. Knowing that Sephiroth was more sensitive to movement than Genesis or Zack, it took a few minutes to carefully pry Genesis’ arms from his waist and to carefully move Sephiroth’s. Zack was lying on his stomach, mostly draped across Sephiroth. The Second Class’ head rest against Genesis’ shoulder (that looked highly uncomfortable to Angeal); one hand had been barely brushing against Angeal’s arm.

When the large First finally managed to escape the bed, he slowly made his way over to where they had piled their bags for the night. Angeal rubbed his face, the palm of his hand rubbing over his chin. He’d need to trim his ‘beard’ soon, he noticed. After gathering a change of clothes, he walked quietly over to the door. Feeling someone’s gaze follow him, he turned to look back at his lovers.

One eye, acidic green in color, was gazing back at him. The corners of his lips turned upwards and he murmured lowly to the half-asleep man, “Go back to sleep, Sephiroth.” The eye regarded him for a long moment before closing again. The body underneath the sheets (and Zack) relaxing once more as the man fell back into a light sleep.

Slipping out of the bedroom, Angeal made his way to the bathroom. Quietly shutting the door behind him, the Lieutenant looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot (though that wouldn’t last long) from what little sleep he had gotten that night. He and Sephiroth had stayed up late, talking. Despite stating that he was going to have a hard time falling asleep, Genesis had fallen asleep rather quickly. Although Zack had crashed first, the redhead had followed just minutes afterwards.

He and Sephiroth had quietly discussed what Cloud had told them the day before. They both agreed that what the blonde had told them was the truth, that he – Angeal – and Genesis were going to degrade sometime in the near future, that they both would leave Shin-Ra and that Angeal would be the first of the four to die, with Sephiroth and then Genesis following years afterwards and Zack a year after that. Cloud would be the only one alive. The brunette’s expression turned grim at that reminder, the reminder of how Cloud and Zack would be tortured by Hojo…

Shaking his head, Angeal relieved himself before cleaning up and changing. Before he left the bathroom, he looked back to the mirror. Like he had predicted, the blood veins in his eyes were no longer visible. Walking out of the bathroom, he headed down the carpeted hallway and towards the kitchen to cook breakfast.

Cloud was sitting in the kitchen when he entered. A black wife beater clung to his upper body, showing muscles that the thicker sweater the blonde had been wearing the day before had covered. A pair of sweatpants barely hung off of his hips, just slightly big for the younger (or older now?) man. Sapphire hues were currently having a staring contest with Cloud’s refection’s eyes in the cup of tea that pale fingers were cupping.

Angeal cleared his throat when he realized he had paused (and been staring for a few minutes) in the doorway. The half-asleep blonde gave a jolt of surprise and moved his gaze from the cup to Angeal. The brunette noted how tense Cloud was, sapphire hues peeking out of long lashes before he gradually began to relax. “Good morning,” the (older, Angeal decided) man greeted quietly, his low tone sleepy.

“Good morning, Cloud,” Angeal returned the greeting with a smile. “Sleep well?” he asked as he made his way over to the fridge. From the corner of his eyes he could see Cloud hesitate, Angeal smiled knowingly. “I didn’t either,” he admitted. Opening the fridge, he began to look over the food inside, trying to decide what to make. Omelets with hash-browns sounded good, Sephiroth would agree, but Zack loved pancakes and Genesis would side with the ‘Puppy’ seeing as he’d get Dumbapple pancakes… “What do you think we should have for breakfast?” the brunette asked, turning to face Cloud.

The blonde regarded him in surprise, asking before he could help himself, “Why?”

“Well, Sephiroth tends to like omelets and hash-browns for breakfast, but Zack and Genesis like pancakes.” Angeal knew that he could cook both meals easily, he did it often. But it was something to talk to Cloud about, without any awkwardness (he hoped…) and it momentarily kept his mind off what they would be finding out later as well as what had happened in this timeline.

“Why not both? Either way, bacon and sausage are non-negotiable,” Cloud answered, sipping the tea. He hesitated for a moment before setting his cup down. “I’ll help, if you’d like,” he offered.

It was Angeal’s turn to regard the other in surprise. “You will?” The Cloud he knew didn’t offer to help cook often…

“Sure.” Cloud stood, spikes bobbing slightly at the motion. “Just tell me what you’d like me to do, Angeal.”

* * *

“Mmm… What is that smell?” Genesis murmured sleepily, eyelids partly opening. The first thing he noticed was that Angeal was no longer in the bed with them, the second that Cloud was not either. Then the memories of the day before flowed into his mind and his lips curved downwards.

“Angeal is making breakfast,” Sephiroth answered quietly; his forehead resting against Genesis’ neck, as Zack’s head was against the redhead’s shoulder. “Cloud is up as well… I suppose we should wake Zack and join them, should we not?” he asked quietly, tilting his head to kiss the back of Genesis’ neck.

A pleasurable shiver ran up his spin as the Commander hummed in agreement. “It’s your job to wake Zack this time,” Genesis decided, quickly slipping out of Sephiroth’s grip and (carefully moving Zack’s head from his shoulder to the silverette’s) and out of bed. Looking back at the bed, he noticed Sephiroth pouting. To most, it wouldn’t look like a pout, seeing as how the man’s lower lip was barely pressed outwards, but Genesis knew the look for what it was. Sephiroth disliked having to wake Zack; the younger man slept like a log most of the time and has a tendency to accidentally hit whoever woke him up… Except for Cloud, for some reason…

Musing over why Cloud was the only one Zack didn’t hit when being woken, Genesis slipped out of the bedroom and went to the bathroom, exiting just minutes later, refreshed and dressed. Slipping back into the bedroom (taking a moment to watch Sephiroth’s failed attempt to wake Zack) he snagged his leather coat before exiting again and heading to the kitchen.

The redhead paused in the doorway, looking at the scene before him. Angeal was serving up pancakes and Cloud was pouring coffee, both were chatting in low tones. Aquamarine eyes flicked their gaze to Angeal, who was dressed in a simply blue t-shirt and blue jeans, then to Cloud, wearing a black wife-beater and whose sweatpants hung rather low on his hips, mmm…

Angeal noticed his presence then and turned from the counter to smile at him. “See something you like?” the larger man asked teasingly.

Genesis grinned. “You know it.” He chuckled at seeing Cloud’s faint, fond eye roll.

“Are Sephiroth and Zack up yet?” Angeal asked as Genesis moved from the doorway to sit at the large table. Cloud placed a cup in front of him before taking a seat himself, while Genesis made a ‘so-so’ hand motion with one hand, the other reaching for the cup of coffee. “Sephiroth is up, and tasked with waking Zackary.”

The brunette’s eyes narrowed slightly as he placed a plate in front of Genesis. “You’re making him do it, aren’t you?”

“Of course! Don’t want my pretty face getting bruised so early in the morning, you know.” Genesis smirked and snatched a fork while Angeal sighed, placing a plate in front of Cloud.

“I should’ve known…”

“Should’ve known what?” Zack asked, rubbing an eye as he entered the kitchen with Sephiroth trailing behind him.

“Nothing, Zack,” Angeal answered while Sephiroth shot Genesis and annoyed look. Long fingers gently rubbed a dark spot on his cheek, no doubt left by Zack.

When Zack noticed this, he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry again about that, Seph,” he apologized as they sat down, Angeal following after placing plates at their (and then his) spots.

Sephiroth’s face softened. “It is fine, Zack. We all know that, while you are not quite trained enough to wake easily as we do, that you are trained to react quickly and subconsciously. I just happen to be the one who can handle your hits easily.”

“Still…” Zack murmured, lower lip sticking out and beginning to tremble.

“You can make it up to me at a later time, Zack,” Sephiroth offered and the younger man brightened. “Sure!”

Cloud gave a slight, fond shake of his head as Zack began to chatter away between mouthfuls of food. Reaching for the pot of tea he had made, he topped off his cup before beginning to eat silently. It was weird, he had to admit to himself, to sit among these four, listen to their conversations, just as he had used to, years before… Eating automatically, the blonde’s thoughts drifted to the past for a long while before he was brought back by a exclamation of his name.

“Hmm?” Sapphire blinked as he looked to the four younger men. “Did you say something, Zack?” he asked.

Brows furrowed in worry as the four others exchanged worried expressions. “You okay, Cloud?” Zack asked in favor of his actual question.

“Yeah… Just thinking,” Cloud answered, dropping his gaze. “Now, you had another question?”

Zack hesitated, wondering what Cloud had been thinking about before asking his question again, “Angeal said you helped cook breakfast, is that true?”

“Yeah,” Cloud answered, cocking an eyebrow at seeing the other three exchange looks. “Why?”

“Our Cloud, he can’t cook. He’s as bad at it as Genesis is,” Angeal admitted.

‘ _So that’s the first difference between me and their Cloud,’_ the blonde mused silently as he said aloud, “In my timeline I used to cook with Angeal a lot of the time, or by myself whenever he was away on a mission.”

Silence fell between the five of them after that and they continued to eat their breakfast quietly. The only noises made were the scraping of forks or a quiet murmur asking for someone to pass the syrup.

Breakfast was almost finished when the youngest man there decided to speak. “I’ve been wondering, what’s up with the swords, Cloud? Some of them look similar to the Buster… Where is the Buster, anyway?” Zack asked, nursing his cup of tea in his hands while turning his head to gaze curiously at the swords leaning against the wall, as he had done throughout breakfast.

“First Tsurugi? They’re a fusion sword. As for the Buster, it’s in a safe place, so don’t worry,” Cloud answered, refilling his own cup of tea. He leaned back in his chair comfortably as Zack pouted at him for not giving them an answer to the Buster’s location.

“First Sword?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, gazing at the blonde from across the table.

Sapphire looked upwards to meet acidic green. “That’s the translation, yes.”

“Why First Tsurugi?” the silverette asked. Cloud pursed his lips and looked down at his cup, considering the idea of telling them the reason behind the fusion sword’s name before deciding not to – not yet, at least.

“I’ll tell you later,” the blonde said after a long moment, and to him, that was the end of that. The other four, however, exchanged disappointed (in Sephiroth and Zack’s cases) and curiosity.

It wasn’t long before breakfast was finished and the fivesome found themselves back in the front room. Zack, Angeal and Sephiroth sat on the couch again, while Genesis had taken up his chair (he was beginning to like the chair too, it was rather comfortable). Cloud himself was back in the chair he had been in the night before.

Once they were all seated, Cloud picked up his story from where he had left off the last evening. He told them of how Tifa had nursed him back to health before he, Tifa, Barret, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge snuck into Midgar’s First Mako Reactor, of planting the bomb and of blowing it up. He told them of how he had met Aerith (here Zack perked up, listening eagerly of hearing how his best-female-friend fared) when the group was scattered. He told them about meeting back at Seventh Heaven and deciding to help them with the next mission.

How it was later that day that they snuck into Midgar’s Fifth Mako Reactor, how they were confronted by President Shinra after planting another bomb. He told them how he fell from the Plate and into the Slums below when the bomb went off, only to crash through the roof of Aerith’s church. At this, Zack started cracking up.

“Sounds like how I met her!” When Cloud turned a curious gaze onto him, Zack’s smile faltered. Did Cloud not remember how he had met Aerith? Or was it like this morning, when this Cloud could cook and how their Cloud could not. “During a routine Reactor checkup, we-” He waved a hand at Angeal. “-were ambushed by robots. I accidentally got tossed over the edge and fell into Aerith’s church too.”

“I see,” Cloud murmured, looking amused. “Aerith told me that you met her after Angeal’s defect,” he said, amusement fading.

“A-ah…” Zack rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit down at another reminder that they weren’t in the same timeline before taking a breath. “Okay then. Continue.”

The blonde shot the young man a concerned look before continuing, telling them of how Aerith had asked him to run away from Reno (“Why would Reno be… Never mind.”), how he had and then how he had escorted her home. He told them of how he had been introduced to Elmyra and had been convinced to stay the night.

Next came the whole Don Corneo ‘Infiltration Mission’. The four time travelers found the whole thing humorous, from Aerith being the one to suggest it, Cloud wearing a dress (“You’ll have to replicate that sometime in the near future for us, precious.”) to how Cloud had been the one to be invited to Don’s room, then of Aerith’s kidnapping by the Turks.

They were horrified to find that President Shinra had given an order for Sector 7’s plate to be dropped. “Jessie, Biggs and Wedge had all been crushed underneath the plate. Everyone below the plate lost their lives, and almost everyone on top did too,” Cloud said, taking a breath to continue before he was cut off.

“That _son of a bitch!!_ ” Genesis screeched. Launching to his feet, seething, he ranted as he paced around the large room, “How could he _drop_ a plate in an attempt to kill six people instead of just sending his Turks or SOLDIERs!? He killed _thousands_!”

“We were a problem,” Cloud answered quietly. His gaze had dropped to the floor again, his guilt washing over him. “We took out two Mako Reactors with little to no issues. He wanted us gone, didn’t want to risk losing more Mako Reactors and money. People above the plate cared little for those down in the Slums.”

“ _Still_! That conniving fat-ass of a man!” Genesis’ teeth clacked together as he shut his mouth and sat back down into his chair. Angeal and Sephiroth were both furious as well.

“Does he have no Honor?” Angeal growled lowly and Sephiroth sat in silence, plotting ways to perhaps assassinate the President without getting caught. Perhaps he could enlist the help of a Turk?

Zack however, was slumped in his chair, eyes wide and jaw dropped in horror. His whole image of Shin-Ra destroyed. After yesterday he had thought poorly of Shin-Ra, but not as badly as he did now. “H…how could…” He licked his lips and swallowed, trying to even his breathing out again. “How could Reno do something like that?” Zack knew the Turk, who laughed and joked around with him like he himself was a Turk. Treated him like family, pulled off pranks with him.

How could Reno kill thousands of people without any hesitance? Zack _knew_ that Reno disliked killing (unless the person )

“Don’t think that he did it because he wanted to. He did it because he had to. Orders were orders and he was the unlucky one to carry them out,” Cloud said quietly, defending the Turk. “Barret, Tifa and I were lucky to escape at the last moment.”

He told them of going to Aerith’s house, of meeting Elmyra and (hesitantly) of Aerith’s heritage, of her past. He continued on, telling them of how he, Barret and Tifa had infiltrated Shin-Ra, how they had saw Jenova in its container. Sephiroth stiffened slightly at hearing the name of the thing he had thought was his mother.

Cloud told them of how they freed Aerith and Nanaki (also known as Red XIII) before being caught and imprisoned by the Turks. He hesitated then before saying slowly, “Jenova got out of its container and took on Sephiroth’s form at his command.” The blood drained out of Sephiroth face, facial expression stone but his eyes showed his confusion and horror. “It…” Cloud licked his lips. “The only way to describe it was slaughter. It slaughtered everyone in its way on its way up to President Shinra’s office, where it killed him. For some reason or other, it unlocked my door on the way.”

“We woke up to the smell of blood and decay, followed the trail of blood that _thing_ left and found President Shinra. Rufus showed up not long afterwards and fought us, after giving a speech.” Cloud shook his head, blonde spikes swaying. “We stole vehicles from the exhibit room. I rode the motorcycle,” he said, grinning at the memory.

“When we reached the edge of Midgar, the five of us decided to stick together…” He told them of gathering in Kalm; telling the others of his version of the Nibelheim Incident, then of staying the night in Kalm before leaving in the morning westward, follow ‘Sephiroth’.

The ex-mercenary told them of how they fought their way through the eastern marshes and of running into Rude and a new Turk named Elena at the Mythril Mines. “She’s one of the Turk’s sister, if I remember correctly… I can’t remember which one, though.” How the newbie Turk had let slip that ‘Jenova’ in Sephiroth’s form was heading towards Junon. “On our way to Junon, we stopped by Fort Condor and helped them fight off the Shinra Army from attacking the nest.”

A chuckle escaped Cloud’s lips. “In the forests near Junon, we ran into a ninja. She’s our Materia expert, actually. Her name’s Yuffie, Yuffie Kasaragi.” He silently relished the look that Zack gave him, practically choking on air.

“Yuffie?! _My_ Yuffie?!” he asked, spluttering. Three sets of brows rose in his direction and Zack’s cheeks flushed. “She’s a kid from Wutai, or I thought she was just a kid from Wutai. She got my number somehow…”

“She’s good at that,” Cloud interrupted. “Vincent’s still not sure how she got his number. He told me to tell her that she’s not allowed to call him.” It was his turn to get the raised brows and he shrugged. “You’ll find out soon.”

Ignoring the slightly irritated (Genesis) and curious (Angeal, Zack and Sephiroth) looks he was given, Cloud motioned for the ravenette to continue. “Err, yeah. She got my number somehow. Likes to send me out on treasure hunts, usually nabs the treasure at the end…” he grumbled. “But seriously? She’s the _Princess_ of _Wutai_?”

Cloud nodded, his expression still amused as he continued his story, “When we reached Junon, we met a young girl named Priscilla and her friend Mr. Dolphin…” The blonde then told them of how they had saved Mr. Dolphin from a monster, of how while Priscilla was recovering, a local woman had offered them shelter at her house for the night. “The next morning, we found out that Rufus Shinra was going to visit Junon. We discussed it for a while before coming to the conclusion that Rufus was pursuing Sephiroth…” Cloud told them of how he, with Priscilla and Mr. Dolphin’s help, was able to reach the military base above the old Junon village.

“Wait a minute, Spike,” Zack stopped him. Turning his attention to Zack instead of his memories, the blonde raised a brow at the amused look on the blackette’s face. “You’re telling us that you jumped off of a dolphin that was jumping in the air due to a whistle that a little girl carried? That’s a bit of a stretch there, Spike.”

Cloud shrugged. “Just telling it of how it is. If you believe me or if you don’t, it still happened.” Zack looked a little affronted at being brushed off. “Anyways, I was mistaken for a trooper (“Probably because you used to be one, Spike.”) and had to join Rufus’ parade…” He told them of hearing about ‘The Man in the Black Cape’ and how he had killed several soldiers. Cloud told them of meeting up with the others on Rufus’ ship.

The blonde paused for a moment, hesitating. His gaze fell on the grim-faced Sephiroth. “On board we encountered ‘Sephiroth’ which cast off another piece of Jenova’s body to fight us.” He purposefully used his fingers to make quotation marks in the air when he said the silverette’s name. Cloud then ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he began to explain, “Before you ask how ‘Sephiroth’ was controlling Jenova when she was controlling him, the answer is simple but complicated. ‘Sephiroth’ is Jenova in another form, but still apart of Sephiroth’s conscious mind, just the insane part that she had driven him to be. The rest of his mind was practically shut away, and the parts of her body that he was used to make himself formed into a solid body weren’t her head.” At seeing the confused looks from all of his ex-lovers, Cloud sighed again.

“Think of it this way. Jenova is the General, and the rest of her body is troopers. They’re expendable while she is not. She’s the brains of the operation and they’re just pawns, soldiers to fight as she wants them to. With me so far?” At the nods he got, the blonde continued, “Sephiroth is the Commander, Second-In-Command. He’s able to command the ‘troopers’, but if the ‘General’ commands something else, they have to listen to the ‘General’ first. And the ‘General’ is in charge of the ‘Commander’. Well, the ‘General’ made the ‘Commander’ think he was in charge, but in reality, she was. Understand?” he asked.

“Kinda…” Zack smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. “What you mean by everything, is that Jenova made Sephiroth go insane. So, she controlled him while he was insane, and then later chose that insanity to come back and made him think that he was in control when really she was?”

“Something like that… It’s complicated,” Cloud admitted after a moment.

“You’re tellin’ me…”

Sephiroth cleared his throat to catch the blonde and ravenette’s attentions; an amused expression on his face as he waved a hand slightly. “If Cloud would continue, please.”

The blonde nodded; a hint of a sheepish expression on his face before it disappeared. “When we reached Costa Del Sol, we took a break that day; rested up, relaxed, got a tan. Met Hojo on the beach with woman draped over him…” Cloud grimaced at the memory and the other four shuddered at the mere thought. “The next day we traveled across the mountains to North Corel.” He told them of how when they got the North Corel, the villagers recognized Barret and how they berated him. And of how before they took the ropeway to the Golden Saucer, Barret had told Cloud of how Corel had been destroyed. “It was night before we reached the Golden Saucer. Barret split from the rest of us as we checked out the place.” Cloud continued on to tell them of how he had met Cait, of Cait ‘telling him his fortune’ and joining the party with the rather lame excuse of wanting to see how the fortune came true. The blonde had rolled his eyes fondly at that.

“Reeve may be a rather smart man, but he isn’t the smartest at some things.” Cloud chuckled before his expression turned bitter. “The good time we were having didn’t last though. Dyne ascended from Desert Prison that night and killed quite a few SOLDIERs and injured a few Golden Saucer employees.” He told them of how the group had gone to the Battle Square, where the dead SOLDIERs and wounded employees had been, of how one of the employees had said it had been done by a man with a gun machine arm, and of how Dio had cornered them and tossed them into Desert Prison.

“We arrived at Desert Prison early the next morning and we were reunited with Barret. He told us he wasn’t behind the shootings before telling us the rest of the story about Dyne and Corel…” And Cloud told them, every detail he could remember that Barret had told them, and some of what he had found out later. He then told them of when they found Dyne not long afterwards, and his and Barret’s fight. Of Dyne entrusting Marlene to the other arm-gunman before falling to his death off of a cliff. “I was, uh… Sent to the Chocobo races-” Cloud pointedly ignored the amused looks and snickers he got from that. “-and thanks to my ‘manager’ Ester, who listened to our explanation of what happened, we were pardoned by Dio and was given a buggy to travel in.”

Cloud fell silent for a moment, licking his lips. He sat for a long moment; head ducked a bit to not make eye contact with any of the four as he considered whether or not to tell them what happened next. He knew that in this timeline, Zack hadn’t been on the best of terms with his parents. They loved him and he had loved them, yes, but they hadn’t supported his decision of becoming a SOLDIER and that had made for tense and awkward visits, especially after Zack had begun dating Angeal, and then Sephiroth and Genesis.

Out of the five, Cloud himself probably had been on the best terms with Mr. and Mrs. Fair. Probably because they hadn’t known about his wishes to be a SOLDIER, and because they had found him ‘sweet’ and ‘innocent’, while viewing Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth differently. Angeal had been Zack’s teacher, his mentor, one who had been supposed to raise him in their stead after he had taken Zack under his wing, not sleep with him. Genesis, well… He didn’t have the best reputation out of the ‘Top Three’, known for his violence and tendencies to burn things alive. Sephiroth… well, he was Sephiroth.

Just thinking about that trip to Gongaga… It almost felt like a hand was squeezing his heart. Cloud had been the one to tell them about Zack’s death, how he had saved him, dying to protect someone who had little chances of even coming out of the coma… Dying to protect the last person he had loved that was alive. How Zack’s parents had died not long afterwards…

“Cloud?” Zack’s quiet voice saying his name stirred the blonde out of his thoughts. Dark brows were furrowed in concern as the delivery boy looked up. “You okay, Chocobo?” Zack asked.

Glancing around, sapphire eyes noticed the concerned looks that Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth were giving him as well. Genesis had even reached a hand out, probably to comfort him, which was merely inches away from his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Cloud nodded. “Yeah… Sorry.”

He cleared his throat before speaking, “We followed ‘Sephiroth’s trail to Gongaga-” At this, Zack perked up a bit. “-Where we met Elena, Reno and Rude. We fought with them. It was after that fight that we realized they knew that we had been coming, and that there might be a spy amongst us. And while we were in Gongaga, we met up with Zack’s parents.” Cloud swallowed, a slight lump in his throat. “I… They asked me if Zack was okay, told me that they hadn’t heard from any of us since the Nibelheim mission. They old me that Shin-Ra had proclaimed Zack dead. I told them it was true, I lied to them… I told them that he had died protecting me in Nibelheim, from monsters that would’ve killed us both, that had already killed Sephiroth. That I barely had made it out alive, even with Zack’s sacrifice. That it took me years to recover. I told them that he had died the way he would’ve wanted to, protecting someone he loved.” A faint smile flittered across Cloud’s lips before his expression turned grim. “They cried, of course. Mourned their son, and then thanked me. Thanked me for telling them the ‘truth’, told me to keep in touch and that they wanted to know more about their son’s time in Shin-Ra. Thanked me for keeping a part of Zack alive, by living.”

He fell silent after that, giving time for what he had just said to sink in. Tears were gathered in the corners of Zack’s eyes. The Second Class SOLDIER knew that if his parent’s had found out the truth behind their son’s death, what had really happened to him and Cloud, that it would’ve been signing their death warrant.

By the look that had been on Cloud’s face as he had talked, the blonde had known it then too. “Thank you.” Cloud regarded Zack in surprise as the Second Class smile at him through his tears. “Thank you for not telling them what really happened, Cloud.”

Cloud stared at Zack for a moment longer before giving an awkward shrug. He wasn’t used to that many people actually thanking him for something he had done during that time in his life… To hear it from a younger version of his Zack was weirder. “It was nothing…”

Before Zack (or any of the others) could insist that it wasn’t nothing, Cloud continued hastily, “After we left Gongaga, we traveled west…” Cloud told them of the buggy breaking down and of their on-foot trip to Cosmo Canyon. How they found out Red XIII’s name was actually Nanaki, and how Nanaki had told them that his part of the trip was over now that he was home. He told them of how they had been invited inside, to rest up before leaving again with the supplies to repair their buggy. How they met Bugenhagen and his hologram machine, how Bugenhagen talked about Nanaki and late that night had lead them through the secret tunnels to below Cosmo Canyon, where the Gi tribe had been attacked. Where the petrified statue of Nanaki’s father, Seto, stood. “When we were about to leave Cosmo Canyon, Nanaki appeared and told us that he decided to keep traveling with us.” Cloud smiled faintly. He considered the teenaged Gi to be a friend and loyal companion, like the rest of his group.

“We repaired the buggy and traveled to Nibelheim,” Cloud said, facial features twisting into a disgruntled look. “We found the town ‘intact’.”

“Intact?” Genesis questioned, a brow raised quizzically. The look that Cloud gave him almost completely explained everything.

One word did. “Shin-Ra.”

“Ah.” Genesis sighed and nodded. He knew all too well how well Shin-Ra could cover up something. “Continue,” he urged the blonde man.

“In Nibelheim, we encountered ‘Sephiroth Clones’, dressed in black capes and seeming to think that they had lived in Nibelheim all of their lives.” Cloud grimaced. While he had never personally loved his hometown, it still had been his hometown. “Thanks to their clues, we went into the Shin-Ra manor in search of ‘Sephiroth’. We found Vincent instead,” Cloud said, looking up. His gaze fell on Sephiroth, who looked back at him, puzzled.

“And who is Vincent?” Sephiroth asked; cocking a brow and his head tilted just slightly. Brows scrunched in confusion a moment later when the blonde across from him chuckled quietly. “What?”

Cloud’s lips twitched upwards. “It’s easy to see, sometimes. You look a lot like him, in the face and in your height, anyway. You two make the same expressions… Simply put, Vincent Valentine is your father. Didn’t I tell you that?” he asked, feigning confusion.

At the expressions that the other four men were currently making, it was clear that he hadn’t. The corners of Cloud’s lips twitched upwards slightly as Sephiroth asked.

“He is my… what?”


End file.
